Burning Love
by Phoenix of the Darkness
Summary: Before he lost his heart, Axel had his own world, his own life. And his own love. AxelxOC Oneshot.


The black sky hung over the World that Never Was. There used to be a ton of stars, all lighting up the night alongside the moon, but that hadn't been for a few years that Axel had seen that. Now, there was only one star here and there, and more faded every day. There was Traverse Town, Agrabah, Halloween Town, but according to Xemnas those worlds had already had their keyholes sealed.

"There it is," Axel said.

"Where's what?" Roxas asked.

Axel pointed at a star. "That one's Aurora City. Nearby, just above it, was Sunrise Beach." He sighed.

"Your home?"

"My Other's home," Axel corrected. "Ale's home," he added under his breath. "It was taken by the heartless, 6 years ago. Feels like an eternity."

Roxas looked up at the screens covering Memory's Skyscraper. He snickered. "Who's the girl?"

Axel's head jerked up, and he looked at the screens. He groaned. "My, Other's, best friend. Lyn." The girl, probably seventeen, laughed. Her brown hair spilled over her shoulders, and her blue eyes shined brightly. She looked like she was trying to push somebody away from her. "I was trying to get a picture of her." The memory was clear in his mind.

"Axel!" Roxas exclaimed. He pointed up at the sky. "Look!"

A faint glimmer appeared in the black. Like somebody throwing silver glitter on a black piece of fabric, stars began to appear again in the sky. Axel and Roxas watched in awe as each star took its place, with each star being a restored world. For a moment, each glimmer was brighter than normal, but faded back to normal.

"Sunrise Beach," Axel murmured, seeing the star right above Aurora City. He couldn't think of anything except that he had to get out of here as soon as possible.

But Axel wasn't stupid. He knew that if he left immediately, he could get into high trouble. But a few hours later, when there no one was up in the World that Never Was, Axel stepped out to the Dark City, and opened a Corridor of Darkness. He stepped through the portal to a world he had not been to for 6 years.

It was night, naturally, but people were still out and about. The crazy end-of-the-world man must have seen Axel emerge, because somebody went of yelling "Darkness! Darkness is coming to get us!"

"Little too late for that," Axel said. He looked around, and pulled his hood up. He might have looked a bit different from his Other, but he looked enough like him that somebody could recognize him. From the looks of it, time had basically come to a standstill. Which meant that Lyn would be very near where he left her.

The park was nearly empty of people. But over on the basketball court, five boys were crowding around somebody, which could not be good.

"Is there a problem here?" Axel said. In some occasions, those words would be playful, but on this occasion, there was nothing but hostility in Axel's voice. The teenagers ignored him. Axel narrowed his eyes. "I said--" fire began to swirl around his palms "--IS THERE A PROBLEM HERE!!!" Flames formed a circle around them, with a pathway free of flames.

The guys divided up, revealing Lyn. But she didn't look afraid. That was his friend, brave even in the face of potentially getting raped five times over.

"Now that I have your attention, the five of you get out of here, before I fry you like barbeque," Axel said. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Which he did. Demyx was really, really annoying sometimes, and, well, Axel just wanted some peace and quiet.

The guys were not stupid, and ran out immediately. The flames died down.

Lyn brushed off her pants. "Thank you," she said. She cocked her head. "Do I know you?"

"You did."

She stepped closer to Axel, who didn't move an inch. Lyn pulled down his hood. "Ale?"

Axel closed his eyes. "No. I'm not Ale. I'm just, nobody." He backed up and into a portal, leaving Lyn broken-hearted.

---

The nobody hoard advanced on them. "I think I liked it better when they were on my side," Axel said. If he were to be honest, he wasn't sure of how he could beat these guys. Well, there was one way . . .

"Feeling a little . . . regret?" Sora asked.

"Nah, I can handle these punks," Axel said. "Watch this!"

Axel jumped into the center of the nobodys, and focused his energy. His chakrams spun around him, spurting fire. He screamed, and a torrent of flames completely obliterated the nobody hoard.

When the flames cleared, Axel could tell that he was minutes from death. Sora wasn't a complete idiot, he could see it too.

"You're, fading away."

"That's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. Know what I mean? Not that nobodys actuallyhave beings, right? Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot. Sorry for what I did to her."

Sora was just as stubborn as always. "When we find her, you can tell her that yourself."

"Think I'll pass. My heart just, wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one." Axel laughed weakly.

"Axel, what were you trying to do?"

He sighed. "I wanted to see Roxas. He, was the only one I liked. He made me feel, like I had a heart. It's kind of, funny. You make me feel, the same. Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go." With the last bit of his strength, Axel opened a portal, straight to the World that Never Was.

As he faded into darkness, there was only one thing that Axel was thinking of. Not Roxas, or Xion, or Sora, or any of them. No, only one face filled his mind, and that was of Lyn. As he fell through the black, Axel's eyes opened wide. He felt like his heart would beat out of his chest. Wait, his heart?

Sunlight poked through his eyelids. Sand under his cheek felt cool. He took in a long, deep breath, and opened his eyes. "Holy shit," he breathed. He looked out, and saw the beautiful sunrise that Sunrise Beach took its name from.

He scrambled up from the sand, and over to a store front. There, staring back at him. His hair wasn't quite as spiky, and a deeper shade of red, and his eyes weren't quite so pointed. He felt so, so . . .

"Happy," Ale said. "I'm, happy."

But basic happiness did not last for long, as Ale quickly realized that there was somebody he needed to see, now.

"No," he breathed. There, in the town square, were heartless, of all forms. There was Lyn, in the center of it all, though not a damsel in distress. Metal flashed in each of her hands as she sliced through the heartless. As Ale got closer, he could see that they were steel fans.

Out of pure instinct, Ale summoned his chakrams. How he still had them, he didn't know, but at this moment he really couldn't care less. He destroyed each heartless easily, fire dancing around him as he fought. Thus his title, the Flurry of Dancing Flames.

All beings of the darkness were gone quickly, and Ale dismissed his chakrams. Without a moment of hesitation, he went to Lyn.

She seemed to be in shock. "Ale? Is it really you this time?"

"Yeah, it's me," he replied, a feeling he couldn't name leaping in him. Yes, there was a name for it. "I don't know how, I don't know why, but I need to tell you this now. I love you Lyn, and I always have."

Tears started to fall down her face. "It took you long enough," she said with a laugh. "I love you, and I always have." She took his hands.

When their lips met, they felt it. The greatest force in the universe. True love's first kiss. That didn't stop them, but kept them going. Yes, the greatest force in the universe, indeed. This was not a hallucination that Axel's dying mind came up with. It wasn't something quick, fate giving him a chance to confess his love before dying permanently. This was real, and two people in love had found each other again.

* * *

**Author's Note**

I wrote this while I was really bored once. It ties in with my main fanfic "Light in the Darkness." But I just really wanted Axel--A.K.A. Ale--have somebody he could love as well. So Lyn was born. Ah, love, so sweet.

Isa (Saix): It makes me want to puke.

THUNDER! *zaps, Isa falls unconscious* Teehee.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but Lyn, Aurora City, and Sunrise Beach are all of my own creation. I also own my laptop. And a copy of Kingdom Hearts II.


End file.
